


Musical Chairs

by Salmon_I



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Gen, Humor, Voltron Lion Swap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-24 21:26:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18170066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salmon_I/pseuds/Salmon_I
Summary: Then Black let's Keith pilot her and… oh.  That's a better fit.  It's only once, but Red can tell the potential is there.  Black is  a warrior's lion - always has been.Red looks around and…‘Hey, you've got mine!’Blue full on snarls at her and curls around her current Paladin's mind as though to shield him from her sight.'No, I don't! He's mine!’





	Musical Chairs

It's the casualness of his actions that first attract her.

“Maybe you just have to knock.”

It's so teasing, so casual, so Blaytz. She can't help but lower her shield. To get to the castle, though, she also needs… and, yep. That bit of alchemy is there. Singing through his Quintessence invitingly. Not trained, not even tapped into, but plentiful enough to make a wormhole.

He flirts like her paladin of old. Loves interacting with others regardless of position in a way he would definitely approve of. He is unwaveringly loyal like him, too.

There's more, though. There's doubts. Questions of self worth. He challenges the other paladins. Even the Red Paladin (Later, even the Black Paladin, though it's over his choice of the Red for a mission, of course.) He's impetuous and emotional.

Blaytz was calm, still waters.

Lance is a stormy ocean with deceptive moments of peace.

She adores him, though. Loves it when he calls her beautiful and says she's the best lion. Calls her his girl. And she wants to protect him. From others, from himself when his doubts swirl threateningly in his mind like a whirlpool that might drag him into dark depths. She wants to wrap herself around him and never let go.

Looking back, she knew she was being foolhardy and selfish. She just wanted so much to be what he needed.

 

* * *

 

 

She's not impressed with him at first. He's nothing like Alfor. He's hot headed and instinct driven, sure. But he's a warrior through and through - and that's something Alfor never was. He doesn't care for the others the way Alfor did. He loves the Black Paladin, but the others there is distance from.

After she accepts him she learns that it isn't that he lacks in ability to love, he's just scared to. There's old hurt and rejection that make him wary. She tries to encourage him, but the feelings are slow to grow. Trust harder to give. He learns to love them, but he doesn't love in the same way.

Alfor was a warm flame that attracted others like moths to his light.

Keith is a raging wildfire.

She comes to love him. She pushes herself harder than ever to be a warrior's lion. She protects him with a fierceness she didn't even know she possessed.

It's exhausting at times, but it's worth it.

Then Black let's Keith pilot her and… oh. That's a better fit. It's only once, but Red can tell the potential is there. Black is a warrior's lion - always has been.

Red looks around and…

‘Hey, you've got mine!’

Blue full on snarls at her and curls around her current Paladin's mind as though to shield him from her sight.

'No, I don't! He's mine!’

Blue has never been possessive, and Red is taken a bit back by that. ‘He's instinctive. He loves like Alfor did.’

'Finders Keepers!’ Blue snipes back, which must be something Lance taught her. Red is irrationally jealous of her learning phrases from him. Even though they've had their new paladins for months.

She wants to appeal her case to Black, but...

Black is conflicted. There's Zarkon, her first, still alive but so very changed from the gruff but good being he once was. There's Shiro, who's a tested gladiator, and a trained leader, and who wants to protect his team so much. Then there's Keith, who is a warrior, who has potential as a leader but no experience. Who is fierce, but awkward. Bold, but frightened at the core to ask for more no matter how much he wants it. Black chooses Shiro, but it's not easy for her.

Red wonders how she would feel if Alfor was still alive. It stings. She casts a longing look at the warm light that is Blue's Paladin, but let's it go. Alfor wouldn't want her to be selfish.

 

* * *

 

 

Blue hears Lance's plea to Black. To have his moment. To prove his worth.

It hurts. Not because he doesn't love her - she knows he does - but because she realizes she's holding him back. He's not meant to be a silent strength who others fall back on when needed. He's meant to be a warm guiding light to lead the others onward.

She expects them all to go to Red like they did for Black. Try out who fits. Red is thrumming in anticipation of it. Knows this is her chance to claim Lance as her paladin. But… it doesn't happen. The choice is obvious but the others don't see it.

Blue didn't expect to have to force the issue. To keep her shield up through Lance's request for entrance. To see the whirlpool of his doubts begin to suck him down and not be allowed to reach for him. He doesn't understand what's happening. Doesn't see that this is his moment. To step up as second in command. To take up that burden.

Red finally starts howling for him when Allura gets down to the hanger. The Atlean Princess at least gets the idea of who Red is calling for. Can only see the single action of supporting the new leader as the reason and not the multitude of other hints along the way. If Blue had lungs she would sigh. Or groan. Or both.

Allura isn't Blaytz or Lance. She's not casual, or flirty. She's a bit arrogant, actually. She doesn't lack compassion, but she could work on her empathy. She is loyal though. Her desire to be a Paladin is palatable. Blue drops her shield. Her sisters need her in this fight. She's willing to give Alfor's daughter a chance.

 

* * *

 

 

Red doesn't mean to be overwhelming. Lance is used to Blue, and she's gotten used to Keith, and they don't even get a practice flight. At least Blue is banging into things too, and Black and Keith struggle because Black is slower. The battle is… kinda embarrassing, actually. Their connections are tight with stress and change. Allura is a new addition - unused to opening herself up to others. They win, though… mostly. And Red gets to revel in Lance's affection for his team. Open, trusting, proud. It's a beautiful thing. She's missed such open emotions. Blue mopes over it, and Red has a bad feeling about that.

 

* * *

 

 

Blue is not being difficult. She resents the suggestion. Allura yelled at her! She started it! At least unlike some Lions, she lets her in to fly even when not fully happy. And sure, she isn't being as helpful as she could be. But it's Allura who insists she's fine. (Because she's flown a castle ship. As if Blue wasn't far superior to that.)

No Paladin of hers has ever yelled at her. They always coaxed and complimented her. Allura tries, with a very bad impersonation if you asked her, but it's when Alfor's daughter finally allows her own vulnerability to show that Blue opens up to her.

Allura may never be as playful as her previous Paladins. She's a waterfall, not a bubbling brook. A deep basin, unexplored - but not uninviting. Blue figures she can work with that, too.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've read a lot of different fics about the lion swap, and they're all so good (if a little painful). I just had this thought about - what if they really were in the wrong lions at first. So I wanted to explore that.


End file.
